Out Of Love
by CUDDYownsPPTH
Summary: The little Cuddy lady is sick. Written for the help lisa auction community on LJ. House/Cuddy/Rachel
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there dear people!  
**

**This story is written for the help-lisa auction community on LJ. I offered to write a more chapter fanfic and the great Glaiza (grouchy-snarky) auctioned it for 10$ which she donated to an organization Lisa Edelstein supports :)  
**

**The story is based on a prompt given by ********Glaiza and on the great ideas of Max (allthingsdecent) and Jane (LEfan77). Thanks a lot girls :D And I'm sending an extra hug to Jane for beta reading :D**  


**********To the readers of "Something that can't be replaced": I'm so sorry for letting you wait so long but right now I'm kinda busy with this story (and keep in mind: this fic is for a good cause) but I promise to update as soon as possible  
**

* * *

**Out Of Love  
**

**Chapter 1**

Cuddy got rudely shaken awake by the loud, obtrusive sound of the alarm clock. Without opening her eyes, she fumbled on the bedside table for the annoying disturber and clumsily hit the "stop" button.

She sighed and snuggled up under the covers again.

"You are nuts." A sleepy voice murmured.

"Thanks." She returned.

"Why does that machine from hell always go off in the middle of the night?"

"6 am isn't in the middle of the night, House."

"For normal people it is." He scooted closer to her, buried his face into her neck and took in her unique female scent which made special parts of him tingle.

Cuddy smiled when she felt his stubble tickling her skin and ran her hand through his hair. "Stop complaining! You can stay in bed longer anyway."

"I know... and I definitely will..." He looped his arm around her waist, rested his hand on her ass and gave it a light squeeze. "But not without your super tanker."

"Well... I'm sorry that I have to disappoint you but my super tanker needs to get up right now otherwise it will miss its flight to Chicago."

"Who the hell cares? Chicago doesn't need your ass, I do."

"And that is why all that Chicago is getting from me is a speech about administrating a hospital successfully. Usually at a conference everyone gets to cop a feel of my ass too, but since we are in a relationship, I think that would be a little inappropriate."

He softly started kissing her neck. "You are a teasing witch."

She laughed. "Says the man that is licking my neck even though he knows that nothing can happen between us before I get back from Chicago in four days."

"Who says that nothing can happen before? If we skip foreplay we can even do it twice before your plane leaves."

Cuddy giggled once more, pressed a kiss to his head and then started to free herself from his embrace. "I have to get ready."

House let out an annoyed sigh.

He would never say it out loud but hell he was going to miss her.

* * *

After she had taken a shower and gotten dressed she went into Rachel's room to wake up her little girl.

Cuddy was about to softly shake the girl's arm when she noticed that the sleeve of her pj was drenched.

Rachel was sweating. Her pj top was almost completely wet.

A feeling of worry immediately spread in Cuddy's chest. She put a hand on Rachel's forehead and confirmed her assumption: She was running a fever.

"Honey." Cuddy caressed her cheek and softly said: "Wake up, Rach."

Slowly the girl opened up her eyes and let out an unhappy groan. She reached for the small pillow that was lying next to her and covered her eyes with it. "My belly hurts."

"Oh baby, I think you are sick." Cuddy removed the pillow from Rachel's face and kissed her glowing forehead.

There was no way she was leaving her baby alone when she wasn't feeling well.

That plane to Chicago had to leave without her.

* * *

House couldn't have been happier about the news that Cuddy was cancelling her flight. He was so used to spending lots of time with her and to sleeping next to her that these days – and especially the nights – without her, would have been torture.

For a person that didn't know him well, his daily behavior may tell them that he didn't care about things like that, that he didn't really care about his girlfriend and that he wasn't even capable of missing someone but the truth was he was. When it came to the woman he loved he was very sensitive and vulnerable.

The loud ringing of his phone tore him away from his thoughts.

He didn't look at the caller ID before picking up. "House."

"Hey, it's me." said Cuddy.

"Hey."

"We just got back from the paediatrician... Rachel's got scarlatina."

"Did he prescribe antibiotics?"

"Yes... He said she should be fine in a few days."

"Great... Just make sure she gets enough fluid."

"I know... I will."

"How did the board react about you not going to the conference?" House then asked.

"They weren't exactly happy about it."

"I told you, you should have told them in person... The low cut top you are wearing today would have made lap dogs out of them."

Cuddy laughed her hearty laugh that House loved so much. "To be honest, I prefer 10 old men that are pissed at me to 10 old men that are checking out my breasts."

"I actually prefer that too."

Cuddy laughed again and then said: "I'm gonna make Rachel a soup now... You coming over after work?"

"yup..."

"Great... See you later then."

"Can't wait to ogle your breasts and check out your ass."

He heard her laughing again before she disconnected the call.

He put his cell back on his desk.

He so couldn't wait to get home.

* * *

Thanks to his stupid patient it was already after 8pm when he was finally able to leave the hospital.

He drove over to Cuddy's where he found her and Rachel on the couch.

The girl's head was placed in Cuddy's lap. Dark rings encircled her eyes and her cheeks were red from the fever. She looked even worse than in the morning.

"Hey." He said as he kicked off his sneakers. "How's the smurf doing?"

"Not good." Cuddy looked up at him while her hand kept caressing the girl's belly. "It keeps getting worse." Her eyes were filled with worry.

"You gave her something else besides the antibiotics?"

"Some Tylenol an hour ago but it didn't help at all… The fever is still high."

"Put her to bed… I'm sure tomorrow she'll be better."

Cuddy scooped up her daughter and tucked her in in her and House's bed. She wasn't going to let her sleep in her room all by herself where no one was around in case she needed something.

About an hour later House and Cuddy went to bed as well. Cuddy because she wanted to be close to Rachel in case her condition got worse and House because he was tired from spending almost 12 hours at the hospital.

Cuddy thought that House would complain about Rachel sleeping in their room because it meant that they wouldn't have sex but he actually didn't even make a single comment about it which Cuddy appreciated.

Right before she fell asleep she felt House putting his arm around her and moving closer.

She sighed contently and checked Rachel's temperature once more. After being sure her daughter was as fine as a kid with scarlatina could be, she fell asleep.

* * *

Rachel was worse in the morning. Her fever was higher than last night and the stomachache was now accompanied by a headache as well as by a sore throat.

She threw up twice and refused to drink anything since she claimed that it made her sick even more.

Cuddy was worried. Really worried.

The antibiotics should have helped at least a little bit by now if it was just scarlatina.

What if Rachel had something else? What if she had something serious? Just imagining all these possibilities made Cuddy absolutely frantic.

"Mommy?" Rachel murmured quietly.

She was lying on the couch in the living room. Cuddy was squatting next to her. They had moved from the bed room so they wouldn't wake up House.

"Yeah?"

"My tummy does hurt really bad."

Cuddy put her hand on her daughter's little tummy and caressed it softly. Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

"House." Cuddy shook his arm.

He just murmured something into his pillow so she shook his arm again. This time more tightly. "House!"

"What?" He asked in a sleepy voice. He was clearly annoyed.

"Rachel keeps getting worse… We have to take her to the hospital."

"You sure you are not just over reacting?"

"Her temperature is over 105. She doesn't eat or drink and she threw up several times. I'm not imagining things… She really is sick!"

House immediately sat up, looked at her and nodded when he saw her worried facial expression. "Go get her things."

TBC

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**I'm curious... So I'd like to know what you think about it xD  
**

**The next chapter is already written and already proof read. You want it? xD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all your lovely reviews :) Here is chapter 2  
**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Cuddy was sitting on a recliner next to the hospital bed her daughter slept in holding her hand.

They had put Rachel on a drip to prevent her from getting dehydrated since the girl still refused to drink.

As soon as they had gotten to the hospital House had assigned Rachel's case to his team who had immediately started running tests.

Now all Cuddy could do was wait. Waiting and hoping that House's team would find out what was wrong with her baby.

It was almost three hours later when House came into the room. He had been with his team trying to find a diagnosis for Rachel's condition.

"Any news?" Cuddy asked quietly.

House shook his head apologetically. "Nothing yet."

Cuddy sighed. Her worry was etched on her face.

He took a few steps closer and laid his hand on her shoulder. "She's gonna be okay."

"You can't know that."

"My team is doing everything they can. I told them that I will fire everyone that leaves the building before they have a diagnosis."

Cuddy's hand went to House's and squeezed it. "Thanks."

He just nodded and then averted his eyes to the sick kid in the hospital bed. Cuddy's kid. His girlfriend's little baby girl he knew she loved more than anything else in the world.

House fetched a chair and sat down next to his girlfriend.

"Aren't you going to go back to your team?" Cuddy asked a little confused. Rachel was sick and he – the best doctor in the entire hospital – decided just to sit down and watch his patient suffer instead of trying to find out what's wrong with her himself?

"I'm not on the case."

"What!? Why?"

"Because this is not just someone's kid, Cuddy. It's your kid. It would be irresponsible of me to be her doctor. I'm not objective."

As a doctor she absolutely got his point but as a mother she didn't really care about that.

"But you are the best House and I want her to have the best doctor there is… I don't wanna regret going with the second best option when I could have gone with the best one."

"You are not thinking rational right now…"

"I don't care if I'm rational or not!" Cuddy hissed. "I just want my daughter to get better!"

"And that's exactly what my team is working on right now. They are good, Cuddy… I wouldn't have hired them if they weren't."

"I know…" She put her head into her hands. "I'm sorry… I'm just… scared."

House put his hand on her knee. "They will find out what's wrong with her… They learned from the best."

Cuddy gave him a tiny smile. God, she hoped he was right.

* * *

"She has leukocytes in her urine." Masters said as she entered the conference room.

"Could be a symptom of anything." Chase looked up from Rachel's file.

"Her inflammation values are generally elevated."

"Could again be a symptom of anything."

"Chase and I will start the elimination process while you keep running tests." Foreman ordered in his oh-so-annoying bossy voice.

Masters just nodded and left the room again while Chase started writing down all the illnesses he could come up with that would fit Rachel's symptoms.

He knew that this was going to be a long day.

* * *

5 hours later and they still had no clue what Rachel was suffering from.

Taub was the unfortunate one who had lost rock-paper-scissors and, therefore, had to tell his two bosses the news that there were no news.

When Taub entered Rachel's room Cuddy immediately jumped up from the recliner. "Anything new?"

"No, I'm sorry… We couldn't figure out what's wrong with her yet."

Cuddy and House – both let out a disappointed and worried sigh.

"I will draw some more blood off her so we can run more tests."

"Okay." Cuddy said and released the hand of Rachel who was still asleep.

Taub took the blood and assured Cuddy that they would do anything they could to find out what's wrong with Rachel, but Cuddy had her doubts anyway. And that's why she turned to House as soon as her employee left to room and said: "I want you to take Rachel's case."

* * *

House looked at her and noticed that this time she was deadly serious and that he wouldn't be able to convince her that him working on Rachel's case wasn't a good idea.

He decided on trying to talk some sense into her anyway. "I wouldn't do her any good by being her doctor. There is a reason why they say you shouldn't treat family members or friends."

"I don't care what people say! Even when you are personally involved with the patient you are a better doctor than anyone else so please look at her file and help your team find out what's wrong with her!"

"Don't you get that I just wanna protect her with my decision?!"

"And don't you get that I don't want to lose her?!" Cuddy hissed angrily and wiped a tear from her cheek that had escaped from her eye. "Please, House." She then said in a whisper. Her voice was full of fear and worry.

House looked down on the floor. The wheels in his head were turning like crazy.

"Ok… I'll do it."

A grateful smile spread across Cuddy's face but House wasn't finished yet: "But as long as I'm working on the case we can't see each other."

"What?"

"I can't be her doctor and her mother's boyfriend at the same time."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"That's not what I'm saying." He calmly told her. "I'm just trying to turn this case into an usual case and usually I don't see my patients and especially not the relatives of them."

She didn't like what he was saying but the doctor in her knew he was right. "OK."

He rose from the chair and pulled her up from the recliner so they were standing face to face. "I will do everything I can to find out what's wrong with her, ok?"

Cuddy nodded, entwined her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. "I know you will."

When he kissed her forehead he let his lips linger longer than usual. This will probably be the last of her he had in days so he wanted to savor the moment.

They stood there with their arms around each other for a few minutes. None of them wanted to let go of the other one but they had no choice.

When House broke free from the embrace he kissed her again and then disappeared into the hallway.

TBC

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**Chapter 3 is written and will be posted as soon as it is beta read and as soon as I have an Internet connection (I'll be in France for 4 days and IDK if I will have WiFi there)  
**

**Have a lovely weekend :)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks a lot to Jane (LEfan77) for beta reading :D  
**

* * *

**Chapter 3  
**

"What are you doing back here? I thought you don't wanna be involved in the case?" Chase asked as House entered the conference room and snatched Rachel's file out of his hands.

"Change of plans. I'm back on the case… What did you find out so far?" He dropped down on one of the chairs.

"Rachel's bl…"

"And change of rules." House interrupted. "Don't ever mention her name… or her Mom's name for that matter."

Chase looked at him confused but after a few seconds he got what his boss was trying to do here. He wanted to be objective and pretend that this case was like every other case, therefore no names should be mentioned. Chase played along. "The girl's blood has an elevated amount of leukocytes. We tested her for every common illness that can cause high inflammation values, even leukemia but all results are negative."

"Now that you have excluded all the horses let's look for the zebras." House got up from the chair again and turned to leave the room.

"Where are you going now?" Chase wanted to know.

"None of your business…When I'm back I want you to have at least 3 illnesses that fit the girl's symptoms." House said before the left the room.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Taub turned around and faced his boss. "Taking a coffee break."

House took the coffee cup from Taub's hand and poured the liquid down the drain. "We are not taking any breaks before we have found out what's wrong with the girl."

"What are you even doing here?"

"I'm back on the case since you obviously need some ass kicking in order to get you to work properly."

"I knew you couldn't stay away."

"Shut up and get me two more cases of 3 years old that have similar symptoms as Rachel."

"What? Why?"

"Because I say so."

* * *

When Taub came into the conference room with the two new cases the entire team was assembled there.

"You've got them?" House asked.

Taub nodded and wanted to hand the files over to him but House refused to take them. "I don't wanna see any of these."

"You gonna tell us what you are up to or are we supposed to guess?" Foreman asked.

"We will play a game."

"I don't think it's appropriate to make a game out of people's misery." The voice of humanity, aka Masters, said.

"It's also not appropriate to wear a potato sack to work but shockingly you are doing it anyway." House said before he continued telling his team about his plan: "Foreman is going to write down the symptoms of the 2 girls and Rachel on the whiteboard. Instead of the names of the kids he just writes girl 1, 2 or 3 so no one else but the black one knows who is who."

"You don't wanna know which one Rachel is?" Chase asked.

"I can't know… I'm not objective if I do." House's voice was suddenly much calmer and more serious.

"Ok… then let's get the game started." Taub threw the 2 files to Foreman who caught them skillfully.

* * *

"Mama?"

Cuddy immediately sat up straight in the recliner when she heard her daughter's voice. "Hey honey." She smiled. "You are awake."

Rachel nodded and murmured: "But I'm so sleepy still."

"I know, baby… That's normal when you are sick." Cuddy's hand went to her little tummy caressing it softly.

"I don't wanna be sick no more."

"I don't want you to be sick either… and that's why House and his team are trying to make you better."

Rachel looked around her room. She couldn't see anyone. "Where are they?"

"They are upstairs… They are trying find the right medicine for you."

"So I will get better soon? Howse will make me better?"

"Yeah… He will." She said and hoped more than anything that she was right.

* * *

It took House less than half an hour to diagnose girl 3.

She had food poisoning and a moron as a family doctor.

Now there were only 2 girls left. Two girls who both had pretty much the same symptoms. Two girls of who one of them was Rachel. Cuddy's Rachel… His Rachel.

He looked up on the white board and read trough the lists of symptoms for about the 100th time but, instead of names of illnesses, pictures of Rachel came to his mind and he hated himself for that.

He wasn't being professional. He had to ignore his personal relationship with Rachel… He couldn't let it influence on his ability as a doctor.

He put his hand on his throbbing thigh, sighed and wished Cuddy was here.

* * *

It was hours later when Foreman came into House's office with the news that girl 1 had developed an amblyopia which was getting worse every passing second and that it was quite possible that she would lose her ability to see at all.

After hearing Foreman's misgivings House had the urge to punch someone.

He was scared.

Yes, the great Dr. House was indeed scared.

He was fucking scared that girl 1 was Rachel. He was fucking scared that they wouldn't be able to cure her... he was fucking scared that she would die.

Cuddy would fall apart if she lost her baby girl and he would blame himself for the rest of his life.

He had to do anything to cure her. Anything!

He ordered Foreman to run more tests and to update him on the status of the other girl.

When he left his office House immediately continued with the process of elimination again. He had a list with all the possible illnesses on it and he was now chronologically going through each of them, crossing them from the list or encircling diseases that were likely to cause the symptoms of the girls.

It was already after midnight but he had no intention of stopping and going to sleep.

There was no time for a break.

* * *

Cuddy couldn't sleep.

There were all kind of things going through her head.

Nurse Brenda had ordered a bed to be brought to Rachel's room so Cuddy wouldn't have to sleep on the recliner.

Now Cuddy was lying in this bed, watching her sick daughter sleep and thinking about what she would do if they couldn't find what was wrong with Rachel… Or what she is going to do if they found out what's wrong with her but they couldn't cure it?

She let out a deep sigh. She so wished House was here. She missed his arms around her and his steady breath on her neck. She missed his warmth and the tickling of his beard.

For a moment she was about to just go up to his office to see him but then she realized that it wouldn't be fair. He needed space in order to work efficiently and since she asked him to take Rachel's case she should accept his conditions.

**TBC**

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**Chapter 4 is more or less done. I just have to change a few things. It will be up soon :)  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks a lot for all your great reviews, guys! :D

The credit for the "3 girls" storyline goes to the incredibly talented allthingsdecent and big hugs go to LEfan77 for beta reading :D

**To answer JLCH's question:** Taub got the other 2 girls by stopping by the children's medical unit. The symptoms Rachel had are pretty common so it wasn't that hard to find 2 other girls with the same or similar symptoms. Usually the illneses that cause these symptoms are pretty harmless and easy to treat but in some cases the illness also can be fatal :(

**What you should know before reading:** The medical talk in this story was written with the help of aunt goolge and uncle wikipedia... I have no clue if it makes sense but I tried my best. ;)

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**Chapter 4**

5:46 am

Girl 2 had developed a rash.

Masters immediately tested on Henoch–Schönlein purpura. Negative results. She suggested a heavy case of measles and House made fun of her.

* * *

6:04 am

Foreman reported that girl 1's visual faculty has gotten worse again and the she was suffering from a headache.

* * *

6:38 am

House drunk his 6th cup of coffee and continued working on his list ignoring the throbbing pain in his right thigh.

* * *

7:23 am

Chase and Masters wanted to know if they could ask Foreman who of the two girls Rachel was. House shouted at them and accused them of being as transparent as a fresh cleaned glass wall. When they knew which girl Rachel was, he would read them in no time. He told them to fuck off and to keep running tests.

* * *

9:44 am

House's leg pain got worse but he still refused to take a break. He didn't want to waste a second of the precious time they had.

* * *

14:23 am

Wilson tried to convince House to go home to shower and to take a short nap. House vociferously told him to either help solve the case or the leave him the fuck alone.

* * *

16:25 pm

House's leg got worse and worse with every passing minute. He had already taken tons of ibuprofen but they didn't even help a tiny little bit.

* * *

17:17 pm

House dropped down on his office recliner. He was fucking tired and his leg was hurting like hell. He fell asleep while paging through his old book of diseases he had studied with in Med School.

* * *

18:08 pm

When House woke up again Foreman was standing in front of him. He had an expression on his face that looked everything else but happy.

"What?!" House asked harshly.

"Girl 1 has indications of dementia..."

He looked up at Foreman and tried to hide how fucking worried he was. "Shit."

"I think it is an LSD."

Foreman's consideration made sense… It definitely sounded like a Lysosomal storage disease and House even thought he knew which one it was. "It is… It's Batten's."

"The symptoms would fit." Foreman agreed. "I'm gonna test her for it."

House just nodded and watched Foreman leave his office.

He put his head in his hands and let out a loud sigh.

Batten's couldn't be cured. It was fatal.

If it really turned out to be Batten's (and he was pretty sure of that) one of the girls would die!

One of them will fucking die and there was a 50% chance that this girl was Rachel!

Shit! Shit! Shit!

* * *

18:56pm

The test was positive.

Girl 1 had the Batten disease.

Foreman had wanted to tell him who girl 1 was but House still refused. He didn't want to know, not before they had diagnosed girl 2. It was the safer choice not to know.

* * *

19:04pm

After Foreman had informed him about the results of the test House escaped to the roof.

He needed a few minutes off.

He needed to cool down and to get himself together.

The thought that Rachel could be girl 1 almost made him vomit.

Even though he had never planned for this to happen, he cared about Rachel. He really did and he didn't want anything to happen to her.

He couldn't stand the thought that it was 50% possible for Rachel to be girl 1. There was a 50% chance that Rachel was the one that would lose her sight as well as all her motor abilities. She would get worse each passing hour and some day in the next few years her heart will stop beating at all.

He looked up into the sky and let out a long, worried sigh.

* * *

At the same time in room 335

"Mommy?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's Howse?"

"He is upstairs in his office trying to find out what's wrong with you, honey." The two Cuddy ladies were both lying in one bed. Rachel's eyes were closed and she was snuggled up close to her mom absorbing her warmth.

"He was no here for long time." Rachel murmured sleepily.

"Yes, that's true…" Cuddy kissed her daughter's forehead. She herself apparently wasn't the only one that missed Mr. Cranky.

"Can we go visit him?"

"Oh baby, I wish we could… but he really is busy and apart from that you are sick. You are supposed to stay in bed."

"Being sick is stupid." Rachel whispered before she started coughing heavily.

"I know it is, honey." Cuddy softly caressed her little girl's back and tried to hold back a tear that was daring to escape her eye.

She was scared… So fucking scared!

* * *

19:42 pm

House was still sitting on the top of the roof. He had continued going through the list of illnesses and was trying not to let the diagnosis of girl 1 affect his ability as a doctor.

He had to be professional. There was no time for anything else! He had another case to solve. A case that had a 50% chance of being Rachel's case. So he had to get himself together. He needed all his brains and all his concentration.

* * *

19:59 pm

House was taking down some notes when his cell vibrated.

He got a text from Chase: "girl 2: reddening and desquamation of hands and feet"

This new perception excluded a few other illnesses on House's list but at the same time it added tons of other possible diseases.

House ran his fingers through his hair and then leaned his head against the wall of the building.

He was tired, he was pissed, he was worried and he fucking was stumped.

* * *

20:10 pm

He just was about to get up from the ground to leave the roof when it hit him.

It was the Kawasaki-Syndrom! Girl 2 had fucking Kawasaki-Syndrome!

In light velocity he emerged his phone from his pants pocket and called Chase. "Test her for Kawasaki!"

House didn't even wait for his employee's response, he just disconnected the call. Formalities and greetings just stole precious time.

He shut his phone closed and put his head against the wall.

He fucking hoped his diagnosis was right… and hell he fucking hoped that Rachel was girl number 2.

* * *

20:37 pm

House's cell vibrated again. He was unusually scared to press the button that would allow him to read the text he just got.

When he finally managed to do it he noticed that the text just consisted of 5 words. Of the words: "You were right. It's Kawasaki."

House let out a loud and relieved sigh.

Thank God! Kawasaki can be treated! In the first two phases it can even be cured!

Now all he wanted to do was to fucking find out which one of the two girls was the little monkey of his girlfriend and hell, he hoped with every single cell of his body that it was girl 2.

**TBC**

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**Thanks for reading, guys :D  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**I had a writing fit/attack and this chapter is the outcome of it xD**

**Thanks to Jane for beta reading and thanks to all of you who left me a review. I really appreciate it when you take a few minutes of your busy day to share your thoughts about my story with me. Thanks! :D**

**For me it was kinda hard to write this fanfic since my muse was a stubborn bitch and wouldn't always cooperate but I really tried my best not to dissapoint you and to make this fic a proper "thank you" for geesnarky's donation.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

After pressing the elevator button for the third time he decided to take the stairs. He knew he would regret it afterwards but right now he didn't care. His leg wasn't important at the moment. He just wanted to get to his two Cuddy girls as soon as possible.

When he was finally on the second floor he thought for a moment that he would pass out. The pain in his leg was almost unbearable. It was burning as if it was on fire. It was hurting so badly that if he had access to Vicodin he would probably take it.

"Are you okay, Dr. House?" A nurse that passed by asked in a concerned voice.

"Leave me alone, I'm fine." He grumbled crankily and thereby lived up to his reputation once again.

He limped down the hallway – almost hammering down a medication trolley and a kid with crutches – until he was standing in front of room 302. In front of Rachel's room.

He put his hand on the doorknob but didn't dare to push it down yet.

What if Rachel really had Batten's? What was he going to do then? What was he supposed to do? What did Cuddy expect him to do? What was Cuddy going to do? Would she even want him around any longer?

His hand went to his throbbing leg. It felt like someone was pounding on his thigh with a burning sledge hammer. He couldn't remember if the pain had ever been worse.

House couldn't stand it any longer so he pushed open the door to Rachel's room.

Cuddy immediately turned around and he could see how her facial expression fell when she saw him all sweaty and heavily leaning on his cane. "Oh my God, House!"

She jumped up from the recliner and was at his side within a fraction of a second. "What the hell did you do?!"

"Which one is it?" His voice was almost as weak as his body looked.

"What are you talking about?" Cuddy wanted to know as she put her arm on his shoulder.

"Rachel… What does she have?"

"You diagnosed her on your own, House… What's going on here?"

"Just tell me which one it is, Cuddy…" He was still completely out of breath. "Kawasaki or Batten's?"

She was totally confused but answered anyway. "Kawasaki… but why are you asking me that? Chase told me that you figured it out yourself."

After she said Kawasaki House stopped listening. Whatever else she had said wasn't significant. The only important thing was that Rachel had Kawasaki!

Rachel was girl 2! Rachel had Kawasaki! Rachel was going to be cured!

He never had felt more relieved.

"House!? Are you even listening?! What's going on with you?" Cuddy's voice was filled with concern.

He didn't answer. He just took a painful step towards her, pulled her into him, put his arms around her and leaned onto her.

He let out a relieved sighed and then it all went black…

* * *

The first thing he saw when he opened up his eyes was a brightly grinning Rachel that apparently was sitting on a bed next to his.

"You are awake!" She shouted in a high pitched voice and cheerfully clapped her hands.

Usually getting woken up like that would annoy him but right now he was just glad that Rachel was fine. "Hey munchkin." He murmured. "You doing better?"

Rachel enthusiastically nodded her head yes. "Yeah, my tummy doesn't hurt no more… I already ate a huge muffin."

"Without sharing with me?!"

"Mommy bought you one too." Rachel announced happily and pointed at Cuddy before she focused her attention on her pink game boy. It almost seemed like she had never even been sick in first place.

House looked at the older Cuddy lady and said: "Your mom rocks."

Cuddy softly smiled and got up from the chair she was sitting on to walk over to him.

"Hey." He said as she sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Hey, you insane guy."

"You talked to my team, didn't you?"

"Yes… and I talked to nurse Brenda who saw you sprinting down the stairs."

"She's not just an evil bitch but also a chatterbox."

"What the hell were you thinking, House?!" Cuddy asked. Her voice was a lot more serious than just a few moments before. "You passed out because you were in so much pain."

"I just wanted to jog around a bit. The girls love it when I'm all smelly and sweaty." He joked and wriggled his eyebrows at the same time.

"Do the girls also love it when you pass out?"

"In certain situations they sure do." There was a grin on his face.

"Stop joking!" Cuddy gave him a light slap on his chest. "We were worried about you!"

House looked into her eyes and recognized that she indeed was concerned. He decided to stop playing games. "I was at the roof when the second diagnosis hit me… I wanted to find out which of the girls Rachel was so I took the shortest way down and since the elevator is dead slow I decided to take the stairs."

"You are a moron!"

"That isn't exactly news."

"You really couldn't have waited another minute for the elevator to come?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Why?"

"Because I needed to know! I needed to know which one Rachel was!" His voice was louder than he had it intended to be. For a moment he was even afraid that he might have scared Rachel or Cuddy but to his relief neither one of them showed any signs of it.

Cuddy's hand took hold of his and kissed it.

She knew what all this was about. He had been worried. He had been scared because, despite what he said and what people might think, he loved Rachel. In the last few months they have gotten really close. Rachel adored him and she knew he enjoyed being a kind of hero for her even though he was always scared that he would hurt her, that he would end up being like his own father.

Cuddy always told him that he did more than great with her and that there was no way he would ever be like John. He might be sarcastic, cranky and sometimes even mean but deep down he was good person and with his latest stunt he had proved that again. He had put Rachel's needs above his own. In his very own way he had been selfless. It was a crazy act but he did it out of love.

"Thank you, House." Cuddy whispered looking deep into his eyes.

"There is nothing to thank me for. I just did my job." They both knew he was lying. It hadn't been like a normal case to him. He had wanted it to be but it hadn't worked. Not at all.

She knew the situation was uncomfortable for House so she just let it go and changed the topic. "How's your leg?"

"Pretty good considering the fact that I just ran a marathon, though I think the drugs you gave me might have something to do with that."

"You just got mild analgesics… And a leg massage by the dean of medicine." She smiled.

"Does the dean of medicine give massages to all her employees or just to the ones she wants to sleep with?" He had lowered his voice to make sure that Rachel didn't hear what he said. Not that she was going to get what he meant but anyway.

"Just to the ones she actually does sleep with." Cuddy whispered and kissed him on the lips before she lay down her head on his chest.

His hand went into her hair and his fingers softly caressed her scalp.

She was so incredibly thankful that in the end it all had turned out to be okay.

* * *

**Of course I wasn't going to kill off cute little Rachel... I would never be able to do that ;) **

**Thanks for reading :D**

**PS: This is not the end. An epilogue is already in progress :) If you want anything specific to happen in the epilogue just write me a PM or tell me in a review :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow... thank you so much for all the reviews :D Each of them put a huge smile on my face :D**

**Here is the promised epilogue :D IDK who told the last guest reviewer that I wouldn't write it because I never said anything like that. Whatever... I wrote it so I didn't break any promises.**

******Thanks to Jane (LEfan77) for beat reading :D**

**Enjoy reading and I hope you (and especially geesnarky ) will like it :)**

* * *

**Epilogue**

He wasn't lying next to her anymore when she woke up. She switched on the light and checked the time: 3:18am.

Cuddy got rid of the cover, got out of their bed and sleepily lopped into the living room.

The light was off there and so was the TV.

No sign of him.

She checked the kitchen next but he wasn't there either.

For a moment she thought that he might have left but then she noticed that the door to Rachel's room was closed.

She knew that she had left it open in case Rachel needed anything.

Carefully, so as not to wake her daughter up she pressed down on the doorknob and entered the room.

Rachel's night-light was switched on so she immediately spotted House sitting on the birch rocking chair.

"Hi?" She whispered. "You ok?"

He nodded. "Just checking on her."

A smile crept on Cuddy's face. Every time he showed how much he actually cared about Rachel she fell in love with him a little bit more.

Cuddy approached him and House caught her hand to pull her into his lap. She carefully dropped down on his left thigh, put her arm around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder.

"She's fine." He said quietly in order not to wake up the girl.

"I know." Cuddy looked at her sleeping little angel. She was so incredibly relieved and thankful that she was okay.

"I visited the Batten's girl." House whispered after a short moment of silence.

"You did?" She was a little surprised.

He nodded. "She's a smart kid... Rachel would like her. She loves "Pirates of the Caribbean" and she is totally into this hello cat thing "

"Hello Kitty." Cuddy corrected with a giggle.

"Whatever."

"What's her name?" She wanted to know.

"Vivian..."

"That's a beautiful name." Cuddy then said in more serious voice with her eyes still fixed on Rachel. "I'm so sorry for her and her parents… I don't even wanna imagine how it must feel to be in their situation... I think I wouldn't be able to deal with it… Just the thought of losing Rachel killed me… If it had actually happened I don't know what I would have done…"

"There is no point in thinking about what ifs, Cuddy… Our kid is fine, that's all that matters."

Cuddy's heart skipped a beat when he said "our kid". It was the very first time he had referred to Rachel as hers AND his…. Our kid… Those two words were the most beautiful words for her anyone has ever said.

"What are you grinning about?" He didn't even seem to notice what he had said earlier.

"Nothing."

"Come on! Tell me."

Cuddy removed her gaze from her daughter and looked up at the handsome guy who's lap she was sitting on. "You referred to Rachel as our kid."

He looked away from her stare… He felt busted.

Did he really say that? … Oh shit… he obviously did.

"Hey." Cuddy laid her hand on his cheek and turned his head a bit to the left so she could look into his eyes again. "It's ok…It's fine..." Her lips formed to a genuine smile. She whispered: "It actually is wonderful."

"Can we please not make a big deal out of this?" He looked kinda cute when he felt uncomfortable.

"I'm not planning on doing that, all I wanted is to let you know that I'm more than fine with it."

"Ok"

"Let's go back to bed."

He nodded.

Cuddy pressed a kiss to Rachel's temple and followed House out of the room.

* * *

**A few days later **

It was Sunday.

House and Wilson were at a baseball game while Cuddy and Rachel were at home watching "Up".

Ever since Rachel had been sick Cuddy tried to spend even more time with her than she had before.

The hours she had sat next to her daughter's bed waiting for someone to find out what was wrong with her had opened her eyes. Life could be over every second so you should enjoy each moment and you should spend as much time as possible with the people you love most.

Cuddy was torn away from her thoughts when the doorbell went off.

She told Rachel to stay here and keep watching while she made her way over to the front door to open it.

She found a blond, pale woman she had never seen before standing on her porch.

"Hello?"

"Hey… Dr. Cuddy?" The woman asked.

"Yes, and who are you?"

"I'm Tara Berkins… I'm looking for Dr. House. Dr Foreman said I'd find him here."

"House is not here at the moment but I can pass on a message to him."

"… That would be great." Tara emerged something that was wrapped in gift paper from the paper bag she was holding and handed it to Cuddy. "Please give that to him… and tell him that Vivian picked it."

"Vivian?"

"That's my daughter."

"You… You are the mother of the girl that has Batten's?" Cuddy asked.

"Yes." The woman said in a sad voice. "That's me…"

Cuddy looked at her sympathetically. "I can't even find the right words to tell you how sorry I am."

"It's okay… There is nothing like "the right thing to say" anyway… Nothing anyone is gonna say will make my daughter better so I don't really care what people talk about."

She was right. She absolutely was right! In her situation she definitely would react similarly to such a statement.

"Life is an unfair pile of crap." This easily could have been a statement made by House and in a weird way she was even proud of it. "I wish I could help you somehow."

"That's very considerate but Dr. House really has done enough for us."

"He has?" Cuddy asked surprised.

Tara nodded. "He got us into this program so we don't have to pay for Vivian's treatments."

Cuddy immediately wanted to tell her that there was no such program but then she realized what was going on here, played along and smiled. "That's really great!"

* * *

Cuddy and Tara had talked for a few more minutes before Tara had to head back to the hospital.

When House got home a few hours later and dropped down on the couch, Cuddy sat down next to him, pressed a kiss to his cheek and handed him the gift.

"What's that?" He wanted to know.

"I don't know… Ms Perkins dropped it off here. She said I should tell you that Vivian picked it out."

House took the present and inspected it.

Cuddy continued: "… And she said that you got Vivian into a program so they don't have to pay for her treatments…. Funny that the dean of medicine doesn't know anything about such a program."

"It's new." He just said and started unwrapping the gift.

"Sure." Cuddy smiled. They both knew that she knew that he had paid for the girl's treatments himself. There was no program that would bare the expenses.

House ripped off the last layer of gift paper and finally had it unwrapped.

It was a phonograph record. "Ray Charles - The complete swing time and down beat recordings 1949 – 1952". The first edition.

His lips formed to a little, hardly notable smile. "Having thankful patients with their own record shop rocks."

Cuddy smiled as well, looked up at him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "I love you." She whispered, scarcely audible, and meant it with each cell of her body.

He looked at her intensely for a few more moments before he bent down to kiss her once more but before his lips touched hers he murmured a quiet "I love you too".

**- end-**


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